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May’s guv robocall causes complaints

Several Dan Maes’ supporters have lodged complaints this week about robocalls supporting Scott McInnis in the GOP race for governor, but it all may be a misunderstanding.

The callers complain that someone claiming to be Dan Maes is calling to say he’s dropped out of the race and is supporting McInnis in the Aug. 10 primary. Those complaints prompted the Evergreen businessman to lodge a complaint of his own to state officials, saying they are illegal.

“Coloradans are sick and tired of business-as-usual politicians and these business-as-usual cheap shots,” Maes said in a statement Wednesday. “Dirty tricks in the 11th hour are a clear sign that my message is resonating with voters.”

While McInnis spokesman Sean Duffy said he knew nothing about those calls, he said Maes’ supporters may be confusing them with calls his campaign is making. In those calls, El Paso County District Attorney Dan May tells voters of his support for McInnis. In them, he twice says he is a district attorney, and says he is not running for governor.

“In this completely humorless, tension-filled (election) cycle, it was meant to be somewhat humorous and lighthearted,” Duffy said of the May calls.

He said the idea originated after May heard repeatedly from numerous people asking why he’s running for governor. He came out in support of McInnis last month, long before the two camps were hit with scandals: campaign-finance violations by Maes and plagiarism by McInnis.

“Someone just the other day said they got their ballot in the mail, and they were going to vote for me, and I had to say, ‘I’m not running for governor,’ ” May said. “My Rotary Club, one of the people there said, ‘I’ve got one of your yard signs,’ and I said, ‘I’m not running for governor.’ Almost a day doesn’t go by where somebody doesn’t ask me about how the governor’s race is going, and some of the people know me.”

In the calls, May can be heard chuckling a bit as he says he’s not running for governor.

“I’m District Attorney Dan May, and while I’m not running for governor, I am a strong supporter of Scott,” he says at the end of the robocall, which was used in El Paso and Teller counties.

The May calls started about a week ago, about the same time the “false” robocalls were reported to the Maes camp. Maes spokesman Nate Strauch said the complaints came from supporters in El Paso County and elsewhere on the Front Range.